Eni’s strategy in Southeast Asia

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n today’s unstable global context, where the energy transition demands concrete, scalable, and sustainable solutions, natural gas is reaffirming its role as a bridge fuel—combining reliability, flexibility, and lower emissions. With a smaller carbon footprint than other fossil fuels and wide versatility, it is poised to play a central role in the decades ahead, though uptake will vary by country and energy mix. Its ability to integrate seamlessly with renewables makes it vital for energy security and decarbonization, especially in markets where demand is rising rapidly.
 

With this in mind, Eni has committed to expanding its natural gas portfolio, targeting a rise to 60 percent of its production mix by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050. The strategy is clear and consistent, with the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region positioned as one of its main engines of growth.
 

This region will account for much of the expected rise in global energy demand, and gas—particularly liquefied natural gas (LNG)—will be essential both to meet that demand and to help contain emissions.

According to Wood Mackenzie’s Asia LNG Demand Assessment, regional LNG demand is expected to double by 2050. Several forces will drive this growth: economic and demographic expansion, the depletion of local hydrocarbon reserves, and the urgent need to replace coal, still the dominant source of electricity. The region accounts for 80 percent of global coal use, with China alone consuming 60 percent of it for power generation and continuing to build more than 100 new coal-fired plants.
 

With few new gas pipelines on the horizon, LNG—offering logistical flexibility and benefiting from recent technological advances—has become the natural choice for ensuring supply security and source diversification. Indonesia, with its vast untapped gas reserves and strategic location at the center of the APAC region, stands out as a key producer and exporter. 

              Eni’s presence in Indonesia

In this context, Eni has built a strong  strategic presence in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia. The company’s roots in the country run deep, tracing back to the 1950s and 1960s, when Enrico Mattei first pushed Eni to expand internationally.
 

By the late 1960s, AGIP had begun hydrocarbon exploration in the Far East, including West Irian in Indonesia (now Western New Guinea) and the South China Sea. Its commitment deepened in 1972 with the creation of an Indonesian subsidiary, which soon delivered major discoveries of high-quality oil and led to the start-up of the Salawati field in 1977. 

After its initial phase in the 1970s and 1980s, Eni returned to Indonesia in 2001, marking a new era focused on gas development. Since then, the company has pursued steady growth, built on exploration expertise, advanced technology, and deep geological knowledge of local basins. These strengths have yielded discoveries totaling about 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the Kutei Basin, east of Borneo, over the past 15 years. The Jangkrik find in 2009 and Geng North in 2023 stand out as the clearest examples.
 

Backed by a strong presence in the area and a clear sense of its strategic importance, Eni has also expanded through acquisitions. In 2023, it purchased several Chevron assets in the Kutei Basin, and in 2024 it further reinforced its position with the acquisition of Neptune.
 

Production at the Jangkrik and Jangkrik North East fields began in 2017, just three and a half years after the final investment decision. The development relies on subsea wells tied back to the Jangkrik Floating Production Unit (FPU), which handles condensate separation and gas treatment with a capacity of 750 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD). From there, gas is transported to the Senipah Onshore Receiving Facility (ORF), where it is split between the domestic market and the Bontang LNG plant—one of the world’s most reliable liquefaction facilities—supplying both domestic and export markets.
 

The cluster of discoveries in the region, together with synergies from existing projects and infrastructure, will support the phased development and integration of additional fields such as Maha, Gendalo and Gandang. This operating model ensures a stable, sustainable production plateau for at least another 15 years while optimizing costs and reducing environmental impact. 
 

The discovery of Geng North opened the way for the Northern Hub project, designed on the same model as the Southern Hub and built around technological innovation and operational synergies to maximize the asset efficiency. The plan calls for installing a Floating Production Storage and Offloading unit (FPSO) with a capacity of 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day (BCFD) and 80,000 barrels of condensate per day, again leveraging existing onshore infrastructure and the Bontang LNG liquefaction plant. 

Beyond Geng North, the Northern Hub will also serve as a production base for Gehem and other discoveries in the northern Kutei Basin. Together, these projects capture the essence of Eni’s strategy: rapid execution, use of existing infrastructure, cost efficiency, and sustainability.
 

With production of about 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboepd) and exploration potential that could add up to 30 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas, Indonesia has become a key country for Eni. Its importance will only grow: plans call for reaching 2 billion cubic feet per day (BCFD) of total production in the Kutei Basin in the coming years, meeting domestic demand in East Kalimantan while supplying LNG markets across Southeast Asia.
 

But our ambitions go further. The region aligns closely with the company’s target of reaching 20 million tons per annum (MTPA) of global LNG contract volumes by 2030. Its presence across the entire value chain—from exploration and development to contract volumes and LNG sales—allows Eni to create value quickly, aided by the proximity of its assets to the Bontang LNG plant and to key emerging Asian markets, a distinctive competitive edge.

Partnership with Petronas

Another key strategic step is Eni’s recently announced business combination with Petronas, Malaysia’s national oil and gas company, covering assets in both Indonesia and Malaysia. The move follows Eni’s “satellite model,” already applied successfully in Norway (Var Energy), Angola (Azule Energy), and the United Kingdom (Ithaca). The model involves creating a deconsolidated entity, sharply focused and built around synergies with its partner.
 

The newco Eni-Petronas will be a self-financed entity with a production of 300,000 boed in the short term. It will be capable of investing in and accelerating new gas development projects, with the aim of reaching production of up to 500,000 boepd in the medium term. It will benefit from a portfolio of 3 billion boe of gas reserves and an exploration potential of over 10 billion boe, equal to more than 50 TCF of gas. These developments will generate significant value for Indonesia, Malaysia, and the two shareholders, strengthening the newco’s role as one of the leading regional operators. 

This initiative marks a milestone not only for Eni’s presence in the Asia-Pacific but also for the evolution of its business model. It demonstrates how cooperation and synergies are vital for rapid, efficient growth, centered on supplying energy from—and to—two emerging countries that anchor Southeast Asia’s gas and LNG markets.

The Eni model for a just transition

This operation showcases Eni’s ability to leverage its distinctive strengths—from the expertise and technologies that drive exploration to its dual exploration strategy, satellite models, and long-cultivated strategic relationships. These ties extend beyond industry peers and partners to include the institutions and communities of the countries where it operates. 

Through our activities, we support a fair and equitable transition—combining new energy sources with environmental protection and local development initiatives that benefit communities. This operating model, distinctive in the energy sector, allows the company to pair a portfolio of high-quality assets with the creation of long-term expertise and value for host countries. 
 

It reflects a clear vision: contributing to the global energy transition with concrete, sustainable, and competitive solutions. And Eni pursues this with passion, expertise, and determination in one of the world’s most dynamic and strategic regions.